1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a remaining paper rewinding device in a paper feeding mechanism of a printing system. In particular, the present invention relates to a remaining paper rewinding device which is adapted for a paper feeding mechanism in a rotary press printing system equipped with a plurality of rolls of printing paper.
2. Detailed Description of Prior Art
Conventionally, remaining paper rewinding or winding up devices incorporated in a paper feeding mechanism have been disclosed in various documents such as Japanese Patent Application for Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 58-114249, entitled "Recovery Device for Used Spool of Paper Roll in Rotary Press Printing Apparatus" (referred to as "prior art 1"), Japanese Patent Publication No. 62-15454, entitled "Paper Feeding System equipped with Automatic Remaining Paper Winding-Up Device" (referred to as "prior art 2"), Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 63-71054, entitled "Rolled Paper Feeding Device" (referred to as "prior art 3", and Japanese Patent Application for Utility Model Laid-Open Publication No. 64-32855, entitled "Recovery Device of Fed Paper in Paper Feeding Apparatus" (referred to as "prior art 4").
In the prior art 1, the recovery device recovers a used spool after the connection between the rolled paper wound on the used spool and a new one. This device comprises a rewinding mechanism for rotating the used spool which is arranged at the upper surface of a remaining paper support section and which is movably supported in the vertical direction. To recover the used spool, a rewinding roller of the rewinding mechanism is brought into contact with the circumferential surface of the used spool and is supported by a paper roll support arm which is shifted in a used spool recovery position, or by a roller at the end of a chucking device for supporting the used spool, and the rewinding roller is then driven by a drive motor.
In the prior art 2, the paper feeding system includes plural drive motors for controlling the tension of a paper web fed by this system and for driving a shaft of a paper roll spool, as a predrive means. The motor(s) is reversely driven for a predetermined period of time or for a predetermined number of rotations after a cutter of an automatic paper web connecting device is actuated so that the remaining paper is wound up by the spool.
In the prior art 3, the rolled paper feeding device includes a drive motor assembled on a support member of a rolled paper to always engage with a support shaft of the rolled paper through gears and a brake mechanism so that the remaining paper of a used rolled paper, after the connection between the preceding rolled paper and the succeeding rolled paper, is rewound to the spool of the used rolled paper.
In the prior art 4, the recovery device for the paper feeding apparatus includes an arm which is provided at its end with a drive power transmitting member, an arm swinging means and a rotational drive means for rotatingly driving the drive power transmitting member. A support member for paper rolls is assembled on a rotary shaft, is provided with a plurality of paper roll support members each of which pivotally supports one paper roll. When the preceding paper roll support member supporting the used paper reaches a predetermined position after the paper connecting operation, the arm swing means is actuated to make the drive power transmitting member engage with the support member of the used paper roll so that the rotational drive means rewinds the remaining paper of the paper roll.
However, these conventional devices cause the following problems. The device of prior art 1 tends to be large-sized and complicated because the support member for the used spool is provided with the rewinding roller and the additional motor. In the case where the width of the paper roller is not constant, some troubles may occur. For example, when the newspaper rolls No. A to E defined by JIS P3000; the width of the A roll is about three times greater than that of the E roll. The used spool support member must be adapted for the A roll and the rewinding roller must be adapted for the E roll at the same time. In other words, it is difficult to act both the spool support member and the rewinding roller effectively for the whole width of the paper rolls.
The devices shown in prior art 2 and 3 each require the drive motor and the reverse driving means of the driving power from it for each spool shaft, thereby increasing the cost of these devices.
The device shown prior art 4 performs the remaining paper rewinding operation by two operation stages of the arm swing means and the rotational drive means. Therefore, the operational timing of these means must be adjusted, and further the arm swing means requires additional piping and wiring works so that of this device will be complicated and the corresponding maintenance of this device will be troublesome for the operator.